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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24757216">Space for thought</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazk/pseuds/hazk'>hazk</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>High Rollers DnD (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Episode 72 "Astral Styx and Astral Stones", Found Family, Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 06:02:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,065</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24757216</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazk/pseuds/hazk</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>An evening in Astral Space, brought to you by the Astral Fears of some overwhelmed Aerosians who have just been lunged to the other end of the multiverse. Help.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Space for thought</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I caught up with Aerois again, and this was the point where I realised I was going to have to write a nice chat just to put my own thoughts in order (i.e. space is dangerous and my heart can't take it). The names of the characters/places/many things are probably way off!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I’m not the only one who thinks this is a bit much, right? To start with, we're in space, and then there's Callus freaking Starbane and the empire, his goons, after us, US, seeing us as some criminals, danger to the empire, <em> his empire</em>, and everyone’s after us — in astral space! Astral! Space!"</p><p>“WE’RE IN SPACE!” </p><p>Nova’s excited yelp had drowned out the rest of Quill’s ramblings, which snapped his beak shut in an instant. </p><p>Ever since the ship had taken off, Nova had been trying to purse her lips and, at times, literally cover her mouth with her hands. It had seemed to physically hurt her to hold back her mixed emotions, the eagerness having been winning over especially when she had been listening to Thalia’s instructions regarding the ship, and the concept of the two wishes that might just be theirs for the taking. </p><p>
  <em> And then there was her new role as the Engineer of the ASTRAL SPACECRAFT— </em>
</p><p>Under Quill’s blank stare, Nova tried to visibly bite back her smile at that last thought. It was a serious situation they were in. Very.</p><p>“We are… in space… Astral space, of nothing, just space, so, so, so much space, of nothing but space and <em>more</em> <em>space</em>…” the quiet mumblings of Lucius could be heard from the background. The high elf had immediately collapsed on one of the bunk beds when the reality of the group’s situation had stunned the five into silence – which had since been broken by Quill’s lament and Nova’s burst of excitement.</p><p>It had been a while since they had last been surrounded by such silence, and it was debatable whether flying through the vast nothingness of space (Astral™) could be considered a comfort. They all had very different ways of coming to terms with it.</p><p>For instance, with a lack of anything to say, Aila groaned, loudly, as if to shake the day’s hectic events off her shoulders. There was since-dried blood all over her, which wasn’t that unusual, but it was still a good reminder of Starbane’s underlings having just tried to capture them.</p><p>Quill, who sees all, was very obviously trying not to look at the blood. Sentry patted hit shoulder in comfort. </p><p>“We did find an ally, or multiple of them, and have made it this far in one piece,” Sentry said. “It is quite impressive how well we have handled our current situation, really, and I am sure we are on the right path to find our way home.”</p><p>“Wow. Yeah,” Aila snorted, no humour lost in her tone when she finally decided to speak her mind. “We wouldn’t have lasted a day on that planet, and we better hope we’re as lucky with the next one we get ourselves thrown at. Because let's be honest here: We will get thrown at some other shithole, for sure, cause that’s just how this story’s been working for us so far.”</p><p>There was a whine, and the others glanced down at Lucius who looked like he was trying to choke himself on the pillow. </p><p>Nova opened her mouth, then shut it, taking an actual moment to think before she spoke:</p><p>“But it’s… It’s still pretty cool, right? How many people from Aerois can say that they’ve been where we have, now?” Her eyes sparkled, though she tried to stay very, very focused on the big picture. “And we are right on course to strike Callus right where it hurts! Without being sent here, we wouldn’t have found the Wings of Ishtar and, I think, we're going need all the help that we can get.”</p><p>“Well…” Quill closed his eyes for a moment. “True.”</p><p>“Our path was never a simple one,” Sentry said, to stop another wall of silence from building. Though her faceplate remained unreadable, the way she spoke made it clear that she needed to hear the words just as much as she needed the others to hear her say them:</p><p>“We will make it back home. I know we will.”</p><p>A beat, before Aila smirked at Sentry. </p><p>“Fuck me; one planet’s been blown up already – which I’m not gonna think about yet, so yeah – but I sure as hell am not gonna wait around and let the same happen to another one. Yeah, we’ll get back. To Aerois.”</p><p>Quill shook his head. “But we are still <em> Wanted by the Valkyrian Empire </em>and, by the sound of it, that’s like being hunted down by the very existence of astral space itself—!”</p><p>“No, actually. What Hadar’s doing is more like being hunted down by the very existence of astral—”</p><p>“NOVA! No!” Quill’s feathers fluttered in annoyance and Nova made a face. "I’m trying to be okay with STARBANE here – I don’t need to start thinking about HADAR again, just yet! Thanks but no thanks!”</p><p>“Just saying…” Nova shrugged. “Hadar’s not going anywhere just because we closed one (1) gate. Although, did we even close the gate or did we fail at closing the gate and sent it somewhere else, the same way the chaotic magic sent us all the way over here? How do we know it didn’t just reopen somewhere else, maybe even nearby to where we landed?”</p><p>Lucius, who had finally lifted himself up enough to look at the others, shuddered and his face twisted in realisation. “Y-you don’t think…? Did it, did it follow us?!”</p><p>Paranoid, he pushed himself off the bed as if to look around the room, and he wasn’t the only one. With Nova stood in the middle, everyone had an uncomfortable moment of “Do we really know anything for sure?”</p><p>The short answer: No. They did not.</p><p>They were so far out of their depth that it wasn’t even funny; quite literally flying through space.</p><p>And that's how the uncomfortable silence returned.</p><p>Both Quill and Lucius tried their best to not start freaking out (again) and, not waiting for any more group realisations to hit his friends, Sentry brought her hands together with a loud bang that made everyone except Aila jump.</p><p>“Should we go get some water? I think we could all use some water!”</p><p>Sentry did not need water, but she might as well have been parched herself with how much she worried for her family and wanted them to be okay. No one minded the care.</p><p>“Yes! Yes, please, that sounds wonderful!” Lucius said and attempted to gather himself some, his legs carrying him a little funny. “I don’t think we have eaten since… Hm.”</p><p>“Since the morning before we left the Abbey for the caves where we found Hadar’s gate,” Nova said. She then paused, having followed after Lucius and Quill’s hurried steps out of their new quarters (with Sentry right behind the two, ready to catch them if they showed any signs of fainting. She worried).</p><p>Nova hummed in thought. “In the grand scheme of things, it hasn’t been long at all. Since we last ate.”</p><p>“And that’s why I said ‘this is too much’!” Quill squeaked from the corridor ahead of her, Lucius agreeing with a cry of “Yes! Too much! Now let us not talk about this, perhaps ever again!”</p><p>Nova frowned, slowing down as she began to sullenly drag herself after them.</p><p>“We can’t not talk about it when we’re literally in the middle of the Astral Sea, being literally hunted down by Callus’ forces, <em>after having</em> <em> literally been sent here by Hadar</em>…” she mumbled to herself, her voice low but not low enough to not be caught by Aila who had stood right behind her.</p><p>The wild elf looked down at her, but didn’t say anything. Instead she did what Aila does, and punched Nova on her now-good-again arm with medium strength — whatever that may mean. Nova yelped and jumped back, caught off guard.</p><p>Holding her arm, Nova met her gaze and Aila raised a brow at her. </p><p>“What?” Nova asked, rubbing her arm although it’s not like the punch had hurt. Actually, Aila’s punch had been a good reminder of the limb being back and intact as the sensation began to rush through it. “It’s the truth. We need to- to figure everything out! <em>We need to talk</em>.”</p><p>“Yeah. You’ll get the chance to, but first” – Aila glanced at the other three who had already entered the ship's living space and began to look around for a drink – “let’s take a breather. They need it. Fuck. I need it. <em> I’m a fucking space elf</em>.”</p><p>Some bewilderment had managed to slip into Aila’s voice and Nova did a double take at that, stumbling for a second. She bit her lip. “Oh, Aila, I’m… Right. I’m sorry—!”</p><p>“Guess we’re both not exactly Aerosians,” Aila said, her tone unreadable. Sentry was gesturing at them with a tankard of water she had managed to dig out from somewhere, and Aila nodded at her to show that they would be joining them in a sec.</p><p>Nova smiled then frowned, the wave of all sorts of emotions washing over her once more. “I’ve been dreaming of seeing Genas for so long, and now we’re here, closer than ever, either by chance or by mistake, but still here! And I’m– I’m so sorry, Aila.”</p><p>“What for?” Aila asked. Her expression didn't change, but the fact that she stood right there and waited for the reply said everything that needed to be said.</p><p>Nova took a breath. “I’m sorry that you can’t go to Alphine. I would have loved to go there with you.”</p><p>Aila blinked, then took a step towards Sentry and the others. “It’s fine. It’s Aerois that matters, and you’ll be coming back there with us. Right?” Aila glanced at her and Nova nodded, serious once more. She hurried after Aila. </p><p>“Yes! Of course! But I will– I do still want to see Genas. Some day. A better day.”</p><p>“Sure. And either we’ll help you get there or that’s just one of the places we get ourselves lunged at next. Cause we might. Like I said; this so wasn't the last time this shit happened to us. I can feel it.” </p><p>Nova snorted, the mixed feelings as strong as ever the more she thought about it.</p><p>Would she really mind it if their journey was thwarted by yet another side quest/adventure/whatever you wanted to call being teleported to another continent or, better yet, to a whole another plane of existence! Especially if it helped them find the allies they needed against all of their enemies.</p><p>There was so much to see and learn, and so little time – even less so with Hadar looming in the back of her mind. Nova shivered.</p><p>Perhaps they could all use that breather, she thought as she push, push, pushed the many Starbane, astral space and Hadar related spiels to the back of her mind. With a surprisingly content sigh, Nova then sat down by Quill and took an appreciative sip of the water offered to her by Sentry.</p><p>It was nice, for a moment.</p><p>And then the silence of astral space became too much once again.</p><p>“One thing,” Quill said, almost desperate to keep the conversation going, “that’s really something to think about is that, uh, can you believe it? We’ve made a name for ourselves, all the way out here! We’re that notorious. In a place we’ve never been to before. How.”</p><p>"Seriously?" Aila’s sigh was far less content than Nova’s had been. “I thought it was ‘too much’ to think about… Could you once not go back on your own damn words, birdbrain?”</p><p>“I know, but… It’s just so strange! Look at us” —</p><p>With his remaining wing, Quill gestured at the five of them: </p><p>There was an annoyed elf still covered in blood, another with his eyes closed and his face set in a haunting smile, an air genasi practically ready to burst at the seams with ideas, and to top it off a massive, worried guardian hovering over them with a tankard of water.</p><p>— “How are we the number one enemies of Starbane?”</p><p>Everyone except Lucius turned to Quill, the high elf choosing to keep his eyes shut as if his life depended on it.</p><p>“I wouldn’t say ‘number one’…” Nova offered after a moment, carefully turning to Aila as if to confirm she was allowed to speak. In the back of her mind Nova felt that familiar demand for her to follow Quill's lead and properly end their brief “breather” – and when Aila’s expression didn’t change, that's exactly what she decided to do.</p><p>If they were in need of a detailed distraction, Nova could provide a speech or two. And it’s not like it was her who had brought the subject up again, so, it should be fine!</p><p>“I think,” Nova said, and no one tried to stop her, “I think Callus would be hard on anyone who suddenly appears where they shouldn’t be; within his empire or not. Especially us, since, technically, we’re not meant to be able to leave Aerois, with the Cradle and all that, but after Aegis V – he sounded so angry, when we talked afterwards, so he probably expects only the worst of our ability to go exactly where we’re not allowed to. And it’s not like he would like it if ANY Aerosians began to speak out and tell everyone in and around his empire what’s really been happening with Siaska, the Genesis Relics, and even just on this ‘Lost Planet’ that he’s been hiding away from—”</p><p>Gradually, Nova’s voice had begun to pick up speed and Quill had lowered his head as if regretful of his own inability to have kept his beak shut. Deep down, though, he was nothing but thankful for the voice that had filled the room they sat in, and no one interrupted Nova as she kept on going. Even Lucius’ fake-serene smile held firm, if only to grow just a bit softer as Nova kept the silence at bay.</p><p>But the more Nova spoke, the straighter Sentry’s stance became.</p><p>“Oh. Oh, no.”</p><p>It was nothing more than a whisper, and Nova most certainly couldn’t have heard it from underneath her own multitude of words. Sat right next to the guardian, though, Lucius had caught it.</p><p>Slowly, he opened one eye and then the other, turning to look up at Sentry. Though the guardian had no expression for him to read, her rigid stance wasn’t right even for her construct body.</p><p>“Sentry? Are you alright?” Lucius asked, his voice quiet enough to not cut through Nova’s speech that was quickly slipping back into excited squeals over SPACE.</p><p>“Yes. Overwhelmed, I think, as we all must be. But I am okay."</p><p>Sentry’s bright eyes had turned to Lucius and he could tell that she would have smiled if she could have. It had become surprisingly easy to read her emotions within the (terrifyingly short) time that they had been traveling together. </p><p>That is to say, Lucius knew that the smile Sentry’s voice carried was there more for his benefit than hers – she was just too good like that, doing her best to not let them worry while she worried for them with all of her being. He glanced at the others and saw that they hadn't noticed anything, which left him to worry over the guardian all on his own for the moment.</p><p>“Right,” Lucius said. He let his faked smile drop, now self-aware of it when he could tell Sentry was hiding behind one of her own. “This, all of this, is a lot, isn't it? And I do mean<em> a lot;</em> it is a miracle I am, well, yes, still standing. Or sitting, as it were. I think we all could use a good, long moment to gather ourselves…?”</p><p>“It is a little much," Sentry agreed slowly. "I was never fond of heights, and now… This is different. Astral space." Her stance seemed to relax ever so slightly as they shared this moment. It might not have been easy to tell, but it made all the difference. </p><p>Lucius found himself relaxing with her. “We seem to be safe in this– <em> this ship</em>, so yes! Just a little rest and we will be well on our way!” he said, and the smile that pushed its way back to his face looked much more natural this time. </p><p>Sentry responded to it with one of her own, her matrix seeming to grow just a little brighter. “We are. And once we get back home, where our own ship awaits us, as does our crew, we will be all the stronger for having had this adventure. It is quite exciting, I suppose!”</p><p>Sentry looked around the table, seeing Quill and Aila’s eyes having now focused on the two of them while Nova worked her way through some sort of a hypothetical scenario where the spacecraft’s systems were combined with the Stormchaser’s. Watching Nova’s eyes gleam with excitement over all these newly formed questions, Sentry’s matrix began to hum even stronger with its pleasant rhythm. </p><p>“More water?” Sentry asked. Aila snorted, but didn’t argue when Sentry still poured her some.</p><p>It calmed them all down.</p><p>“We’ve got the making of some pretty badass ‘criminals’, though,” Aila said and crossed her arms.</p><p>When Sentry moved over to pour Nova another glass as well, she seemed to finally realise she had gone off on a tangent and snapped out of her mental experiments. Nova turned to Aila with an apologetic smile, which the wild elf simply shrugged off.</p><p>“You know,” Aila continued, all eyes now on her. “With whatever bounty he’s put on us, Starbane’s forces got to be expecting some top tier mercs when they finally do come after us. We’ve sure got the element of surprise on our side.”</p><p>Sentry burst out laughing in that same way that had once caught the others completely off guard. They had grown familiar with the sound of it by now and, cherishing it dearly, they all joined in with chuckles of their own.</p><p>“We do, don't we? As long as we don’t need to sneak anywhere, that is,” Sentry said when her laughter had finally cut off. It had taken a moment to get there. “I will do my best.”</p><p>“We’ll be right there with you,” Nova said and patted Sentry’s arm. Looking up at the guardian, everyone was smiling widely in that moment of normalcy.</p><p>It felt like forever since the simpler days before their first meeting with Starbane, which had set the course of the rest of their lives. Together, they had already learnt so much about themselves and the world they lived in – and it all continued to tie them closer together, with the need to keep each other safe. </p><p>It wasn’t a bad thing, and they felt it then; sat laughing in the middle of astral space. They even managed to forget about the silence of space, and the question of whether or not it was comfortable for them to be lost there in the first place. </p><p>Or at least they did until Quill felt he had to be responsible and set them back on course:</p><p>“Okay. I’ll have to go talk to Thalia to, um, tell her our plan and to learn how to… to fly this thing? I guess?” He let out a tired sigh.</p><p>“Oh, oh! I need to actually learn about the engine!” Nova stood up in a hurry, getting caught by yet another wave of utter HYPE. “You know where to find me!” And with that she was off.</p><p>Quill coughed. “Right. I’ll- I’ll go. To see Thalia.” He stood up and glanced around the table, as if hoping someone would stop him. Instead of that happening however, Sentry offered to go with him.</p><p>Some weight seemed to be lifted off Quill and he straightened. “Thanks, Sentry.”</p><p>“Oh yeah… I got a job too, don’t I?” Aila grunted and pushed herself off the table. Not waiting around, she began walking down the hall towards the turrets. “Shooting things ain’t really my specialty, but I mean; how hard can it be?”</p><p>Lucius looked after her and then at Quill and Sentry, the group taking no time to take off one by one. He went to stand up much more slowly, finding his legs to be even more unstable than he had first realised. </p><p>“And I will… go to sleep, I suppose,” Lucius said and looked at Sentry in question. She nodded at him.</p><p>“That sounds good,” she said, “and I don’t think it’ll be too long before the rest of us get to do the same. It has been a long day.”</p><p>“You seem to have a lot of faith in my ability to very quickly learn <em> how to control an Astral Spacecraft</em>,” Quill pointed out, somewhat quietly so that his voice wouldn’t carry all the way to the cockpit. “Or whatever the job description for a co-pilot is. I really don’t know.”</p><p>“I doubt Thalia expects you to learn it all in one sitting,” Sentry said kindly, her voice equally quiet. She waited until Lucius got up before waving after him, keeping a careful eye as he disappeared from view – just to make sure he would make it back to bed on his own two feet. Fainting was one thing: it really was a miracle how no one had actually thrown up yet.</p><p>Turning her gaze to Quill, Sentry wondered just how he was holding up. </p><p>Similar to Lucius' thoughts on Sentry, Quill being an aarakocra could sometimes make him somewhat more difficult to read than the two elves or Nova. But in the time they had traveled together, it had become quite easy to tell whenever he felt uncomfortable with something regardless of how much effort he might have put into trying to hide it.</p><p>Right now Sentry could see it in the way he kept ruffling his feathers, as if to make himself look more put together but only succeeding in the very opposite effect.</p><p>“Ready?” Quill asked and took a step towards the cockpit. Sentry followed.</p><p>“We will tell her that we are headed home,” Sentry said, “and ask about what the Wings of Ishtar wanted us to prepare, then?”</p><p>“Right… I think we have to,” Quill said before letting out another, deep sigh. The sound of him doing that had become all too familiar by now, which saddened Sentry. “This ride – flight? – over to Aerois is our only chance to get what we need, and she’s the captain. We need her to agree.”</p><p>“I think she will. She seems nice.”</p><p>“For once, let’s hope she actually is,” Quill huffed, and after a sharp intake of breath his fist clenched. “Better yet; we should make sure she is?” The doubts were back once more, making him feel dizzy.</p><p>“Of course. Let’s not be Brookstoned again,” Sentry said with a determined nod of her head. “Though, since we are already aboard Captain Thalia's ship and flying through astral space, there is very little we could do even if she turned out to be—”</p><p>Quill let out the tiniest of squeaks and Sentry’s words fell short.</p><p>Both of them came to a sudden stop. Quill's wide eyes met Sentry's bright ones, which flashed with colour like an alarm had gone off.</p><p>“Oh. Oh, no,” Quill whispered and shook his head to clear it. Sentry reached out to support him, though he could see that her metal knees were also going unnaturally wobbly.</p><p>“I’m sorry, Quill! I shouldn’t have said anything! I’m so sorry!” </p><p>Sentry held him up by the shoulder while he caught his breath, but she was obviously panicking just as much as he was. The reality of being trapped in the middle of astral space did not suit them – how could it? – and the many worst-case scenarios built by their minds were quickly becoming their biggest enemy.</p><p>“Let’s just not think about it!” Quill straightened, clinging to Sentry just as much as she was clinging to him. “We’ll just– we’ll go in and have a chat with our captain! And she teaches us about the ship! <em> It's fine!</em>”</p><p>“All fine!” Sentry exclaimed, the two of them having completely forgotten to use their 'inner voices' to have any of this conversation.</p><p>Inside the cockpit, the snakes were hissing curiously towards the entrance. Thalia, who had caught the tail end of her two passengers' brief freakout, simply rolled her eyes.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
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